Pilot ladder



June 12, 1934. A. A. BERG ET AL PILOT LADDER Filed Aug. 7, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 1 AXEL A. BERG FRANK F. TOWNSEND INVENTORS BY@ F 2% AT 0mmJune 12, 1934.

A. A. BERG ET AL PILOT LADDER Filed Aug. 7, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 AXEL14. BERG FRANK E TOWNSEND INVENTORS BY Wm ATT RNY Patented June 12, 1934UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE PILOT LADDER Application August 7,

8 Claims.

This invention relates to ladders such as used by pilots in boarding andleaving ships and the objects of the invention are to provide aconstruction of this character which will be light enough to be easilyhandled and placed, rugged, safe and strong, which will lay close andfirm against the ships side and which will afford convenient readilygrasped hand grips.

The foregoing and other desirable objects are attained by novel featuresof construction, combinations and relations of parts all as hereinafterdisclosed, illustrated and broadly claimed.

The drawings accompanying and forming part of the specificationillustrate certain practical embodiments of the invention, it beingunderstood that the structure may vary as regards this presentdisclosure, all within the true spirit and broad scope of the claims.

Fig. 1 in the drawings is a broken part sectional face view of one formof the ladder.

Fig. 2 is a broken side view, partly in section.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of one of the ladder sections.

Figs. 4, 5, 6 are enlarged cross-sectional details of the hand gripportion of the side plates.

Fig. 7 is a broken front elevation of a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional detail of another modification.

The ladder is made up of steps or ladder sections shackled or flexiblyconnected together and consisting each step of a rung or tread 10,carried by side members 11.

In Figs. 1 to 6, the side members or rung supports are shown as flatsheet metal plates having intermediate transverse openings 12, strucktherethrough with flanges 13, 14, bent out at the upper and lower edges,said openings receiving the tongue portions 15, of the treads and theflanges 13, 14, overlying and underlying said tongues to provide lateralstability and support and to prevent cutting the material of the treads,which may be of wood.

Opposite edges of the rung supports are shown as flanged and bent inwardas at 16, over opposite edges of the rungs and secured to the latter asby screws or fastenings 17. This construction fixes the rungs in thesupports, braces opposite edges of the rungs, overcomes any tendency ofthe rungs to twist in the supports and provides elongated fiat bearingscausing the supports to lie fiat against the ships side indicated by theline 18 in Fig. 2.

For further bracing and reinforcing purposes,

tongues 19, are shown struck inward from inter- 1933, Serial No. 683,964

mediate portions of the side plates, below the rungs and bent upwardinto engagement with the lower sides of the rungs and there secured asby screws or other fastenings 20. The openings 21 left by the in-bendingof braces 19 provide for hand grips in the side supports below therungs, the metal about such openings and along the outer edges of theplates being preferably curled inward as indicated at 22, 23, Figs. 4,5, 6, to provide smooth rounded edges for the grip bars 24.

The openings 21 are shown as of generally triangular outline and thelower edge portions of the plates as inclined inward to the centralplane of the ladder which, as indicated in Fig. 2, sets the grip bars24, on downwardly convergent angles inclined for convenient grasp of thehands in ascending or descending the ladder. The rolled edges of thehand grip portions also reinforce the lower portions of the side plates.

The bottom step section may be finished ofi with a simple cross bar,convenient for grasping and shown as consisting of a spacing tube 25,between the lower ends of the plates secured'by a through bolt 26,having its ends headed over the outer sides of the plates at 27.

The upper ends of the rung supporting plates also may be tapered, asindicated at 28, for enabling the step sections to be rolled togetherfor storage.

The sections are suitably connected together as by the shackle linksindicated at 29, and consisting of loops of wire or rod material passedthrough openings 30, in the lower and upper ends of adjoining sideplates and secured by surrounding sleeve members 31.

The inclined grips may be covered, if desired, with suitable hand gripmaterial, such as the split encasing cover of molded rubber 32, shown inFig. 5, or separate cover strips 33, of shaped brass or the like, shownin Fig. 6, as slipped over the opposite curled edges 22, 23.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 7, the shackles for the stepsections are continuous and coextensive of the ladder, consisting ofcontinuous lengths of chain or cable 34, or the like, to which the stepplates are secured at the proper intervals as by means of the U-boltclips indicated at 35.

The side plates are in this instance designated 36, and they are shownas having the fianges 37, at the rung openings bent inward instead ofoutward and as secured together, through the rungs by rivets or likefastenings 38.

Also, in the construction under consideration, the rung supportingplates are arched inward in their step carrying portions and the upperand lower ends of these arches are connected by tubular elements 39,surrounding the continuous ropes, chains or side cables 34, andproviding hand grips ofiset from the ends of the steps.

The tubular hand grips 39 may be lengths of pipe cut with end legs 40,riveted or otherwise suitably secured to the side plates at 41, thesegrips then acting as trusses bracing the arches of the side plates.

The side plates may be made of other mate rials than sheet metal. Thusin Fig. 8, a side plate 42 is shown constructed of cast metal, such asaluminum for the sake of lightness. This casting is shown as reinforcedby a link or loop 43, of wire or rod material shown as caught beneaththe inturned flanges 22, of the hand grips and extending around flanges44, of the shackle openings 30, so as to reinforce and aid in carryingany load on the ladder.

The structure may be modified and different materials may be employedaccording to different or special requirements. While wood is a suitableand practical material for the rungs, these may also be of metal,providing if desired, an all metal construction. The oppositely taperingform of the side plates enables the ladder to be readily rolled andunrolled, the elongated bearings cause the ladder to lie flat and stableagainst the side of the ship and the symmetrical form of the ladder withopposite edges alike, enables the ladder to be faced either way againstthe ship. The hand grips are conveniently located and sufficientlyexposed so that they may be readily and firmly grasped and areindependent of the treads, so there is not the danger of the grip of oneperson being broken by a second person on the ladder. The bracing effectprovided by the angle braces 19, in the Fig. 1 construction, is to anextent present also in the Eig. '7 construction, where the inwardlyarched portions of the side plates and the extended flanges 3'7 securedto the treads have an equivalent angular bracing effect. In aconstruction like that shown in Fig. 7, the arched portions of the sideplates above and below the treads may be made flat and of sufficientextent to form the bearing edges 16a equivalent in effect to thebearings 16 in the first form of the invention. In all forms of theinvention disclosed, the hand grips are combined as trussesstrengthening and reinforcing the side plates.

. What is claimed is:

1. A pilot ladder, comprising flexibly connected side plates, rungssecured between and supported by said side plates, said side plateshaving substantially triangular openings therethrough providingconvergently related hand grips adjoining the ends of the rungs.

2. A pilot ladder, comprising flexibly connected side plates of sheetmaterial, rungs secured between and supported by said side plates, saidsheet material side plates having substantially triangular openingstherethrough leaving convergent hand grips and the material from saidopenings being struck inward from said hand grip providing openings andsecured to the rungs as braces therefor.

3. A pilot ladder, comprising flexibly connected side plates, rungssecured between and supported by said side plates, said side plateshaving substantially triangular openings therethrough beneath said rungsand providing downwardly convergent hand grips.

4. A pilot ladder, comprising flexibly connected side plates, rungssecured between and supported by said side plates, said side plateshaving substantially triangular openings therethrough providingconvergently related hand grips adjoining the ends of the rungs, saidside plates being constructed of sheet material and said material beingrolled about the edges of said openings to form extended roundedgripping surfaces along said hand grips.

5. A pilot ladder, comprising flexibly connected side plates, rungssecured between and supported by said side plates, said side plateshaving substantially triangular openings therethrough providingconvergently related hand grips adjoining the ends of the rungs androunded hand grip guards applied to and covering the edges of said handgrips so provided.

6. A pilot ladder, comprising flexibly connected side plates, rungssecured between and supported by said side plates, said side plateshaving substantially triangular openings therethrough providingconvergently related hand grips adjoining the ends of the rungs, thematerial surrounding said openings being curled over and reinforcementloops extending about said openings and secured by said curled over edgeportions.

'7. A pilot ladder, comprising side plates having rung openings, rungsseated in said openings, flanges at opposite edges of said side platesengaged over opposite edges of said rungs, said side plates havingsubstantially triangular openings therethrough intermediate said edgeflanges and forming inclined hand grips.

8. A pilot ladder, comprising side plate members flexibly shackledtogether and provided with rung openings therethrough, rungs seated andsecured in said rung openings in said side plate members and said sideplate members having hand openings therethrough adjoining opposite endsof the rungs and rounded hand grip surfaces at said hand grip openingsand whereby hand receiving openings and grips are provided inconveniently accessible position at the flexibly connected rungs.

AXEL A. BERG. FRANK F. TOWNSEND.

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